Monday, 30 April 2012

The Mystery in History #ChildAbuse #Recovery

It's been a mad few weeks. My book was published much earlier than I expected it to be. On the whole I am happy as it came out a week before "Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month" started in the U.S. If you have read my book I would really appreciate you leaving feedback on the Amazon or AuthorHouse websites. I am working on two new books and your comments will help me shape my current projects. The same applies to this blog. Your comments are a great help to me, in many ways.

I found releasing this book to be very uplifting. Getting my writing "out there" in print and eBook will hopefully increase awareness and help others too. It has helped me also. More memories have come out of the fog of history and though painful, they are being dealt with.

I would like to remind you that we should be vigilant and aware of the subject of child abuse all year not just during April. Much much more needs to be done on a global scale to bring education and awareness. Victims of this heinous crime need to feel able to speak up and get the support they need.

Our Governments need to act. So much money is being spent on warfare & fighting terrorism for example. What about the war and terrorism going on in our own homes? Children suffer and die every day because of child abuse in all it's forms. More money is being spent in the U.K on the phone hacking scandal than on Child Abuse prevention or awareness...

Last Friday I listened in to Dreamcatchers for Abused Children hosted by my friend Tricia McKnight with her special guest Andy Hudson. Please have a listen, to this show.Many others are available in the archives.

I'd like to thank those of you who follow me on Twitter for your support there and for the ReTweets and Mentions. Together we are increasing awareness!

Going back to my comment above re. new memories. I had hoped by the end of last year that I had finished discovering the mysteries of my past. More events have come to light and others have been clarified in my head. Never doubt your memories. Your brain will let these through when you are ready to handle them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing... Looking back over my life I understand much better now how those events in my childhood shaped me and pushed me on the roads I took.

I was not to blame and I am not the guilty party.

I was a toddler when the abuse started, barely walking. Even as a teenager when I flaunted myself in front of the grandfather I was not to blame. I was still a kid. I had been groomed and taught ways to behave. Though at the time I might have thought I was showing him something he could not have, I was still doing exactly what he wanted. He was the one with the guilt, he was the one doing wrong. Not me.

I would like to encourage male survivors to use the link to the right to share something about themselves(Male Survivors - Your Space). Not only is it often therapeutic to share but it could help others who visit this blog.

If you want to write to me privately then please feel free. I class all emails as strictly private unless the sender states otherwise. My email is on the top left of my blog.

If enough of us stand together and raise our voices we will be heard. There are too many lives being lost due to child abuse. Not only young lives, but also those who are unable to cope with the pain they feel in later life. If anyone has statistics regarding the numbers of abuse related suicides please email me as I would like to publish them on this blog.

To those of you still living in the shadows I say this. Please understand that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. You are not to blame for what happened TO you. If you think that you could/should have been able to stop it, then remember you were a child. The guilt and the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the abusers and those who support them (directly or indirectly). Please step forward, speak to someone, seek out a therapist or support group. You will not be blamed for what happened to you and if someone tries to blame you then they are not worth knowing.

There are more victims of abuse than there are abusers. There is strength in numbers.. It's time to take away the power these vile creatures have and to campaign for better awareness, longer prison sentences and efficient deterrents.

Together we can make child abuse a rare crime and not the everyday occurrence it is now.

1 comment:

Thanks for your courage to speak up, now. I only wish I had the knowledge and support (that I have today0 60 years ago.Keep up the good work. so many victims must need to know that they are NOT to blame. they are NOT guilty of any thing wrong. ABsue can be stopped by all of us speaking out that we won't keep that damned secret any more. I appreciate your courage to speak for us survivors. Malika